What Is a Balanced Diet for Teenagers With Total Carbohydrates, Proteins and Fats?

Carbohydrates should come from nutrient-dense, high-fiber sources.

Nutrition during teenage years is of paramount importance because good nutrition aids growth, development and learning. While teenagers should avoid restrictive diets, or those that limit certain food groups or macronutrients, eating a healthy diet with a good balance of protein, carbohydrates and fats is key. Help teenagers to improve their diets by encouraging them to make healthy choices.

Starting with Calories

Before you can look at macronutrients -- carbs, fats and proteins -- you need to determine your teenager's required calorie intake. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends that girls between 14 and 18 years old eat between 1,800 and 2,400 calories per day to maintain a healthy weight. Boys in this age category need slightly more, with 2,000 to 3,200 calories daily. These numbers are dependent on activity levels -- the higher the activity levels, the higher the calorie intake.

Counting Carbs

The minimum amount of carbohydrate a teenager should look to consume each day is 130 grams. For teenagers who are highly active, or involved in sports, however, the diet should consist of between 45 percent and 65 percent of total calories from carbohydrate, according to the Canadian Paediatric Society. This means that an active teenage girl consuming 2,400 calories each day would need between 1,080 and 1,560 calories from carbohydrate. Carbs have 4 calories per gram, which means eating between 270 and 390 grams of carbs per day. A male consuming 3,200 calories per day would need 360 to 520 grams of carbohydrates to equal 45 percent to 65 percent of total daily calories. The majority of carbs should come from minimally processed foods, high in fiber and nutrients, like whole-grain breads, brown rice, legumes, vegetables, fruits and pasta.

Moving On to Protein

Young teenagers should look to consume around 0.5 gram of protein per pound of body weight, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. For older teenagers, however, the needs aren't quite so high. Therefore, a teen weighing 120 pounds needs around 60 grams of protein per day, while a teen at 160 pounds needs 80 grams. Encourage your teenager to get her protein from a variety of healthy sources, such as lean meats, low-fat dairy, oily and nonoily fish and plant proteins, such as beans.

Focus on Fats

Fats need to constitute around 30 percent of a teenager's total daily calories. For a 2,400-calorie diet, that means getting 720 calories from fat, and for a 3,200-calorie diet, it's 960 calories. Fat has 9 calories per gram, meaning 720 calories equals 80 grams of fat, and 960 calories is 107 grams of fat. Good sources of fats include olive oil, oily fish like salmon, mixed nuts and seeds and avocados.

About the Author

Mike Samuels started writing for his own fitness website and local publications in 2008. He graduated from Peter Symonds College in the UK with A Levels in law, business and sports science, and is a fully qualified personal trainer, sports massage therapist and corrective exercise specialist with accreditations from Premier Global International.